Scotland 2019 17: Edradour Distillery

Pitlochry is home to the enormous Blair Athol distillery (part of the even larger Diageo Group); but, nestled in the hills above the town, lies Edradour which - until recently - was Scotland's smallest distillery.  This particular honour has now been lost owing to the advent of micro-distilleries, but it is still pretty tiny compared to the "big boys".  As well as being visually attractive, with distinctive white/red buildings and lots of picket fences, the size of the operation makes it very easy to understand what is going on.  The production of whisky is - quite literally - under a single roof, allowing the visitor to see everything from mill to still, pretty well without moving.

Unusually, the tasting came before the tour on this occasion, but it allowed our guide - Dylan, smartly dressed in a kilt of the Edradour tartan - to provide background information before entering the distillery proper.

As can be seen from the pictures below, everything is under-sized in the Edradour distillery.  The four washbacks are far smaller than would be expected elsewhere, and the distillery is the last in the country to employ a traditional stainless steel "Morton Refrigerator" which uses cold water to chill the wort from the mash tun.

The diminutive mash tun, being fed directly from the output of the mill.

Using Dylan for scale, it's clear that even the stills are pint-sized.

A pre-Christmas walk with Ted

Isla had a long (and muddy) walk around Toft with her big mate, Ted the Golden Retriever, this morning.  Despite the chilly conditions, both dogs were determined to take a dip in any water they could find.

Isla managed to get her ball stuck in a field, and struggled to get it out despite digging furiously.  When she eventually managed to extract the ball - with a little help from yours truly - it was completely caked in mud (not that this worried her in the slightest).

Much of the time it was Ted who managed to steal the ball from Isla, sneaking in to pick it up as soon as she dropped it for me to throw.  Isla never did quite work out that Ted was the culprit...

Scotland 2019 16: Dunkeld

Our time in Fife was over, with the next stop being Pitlochry.  The journey took us back through St Andrews, over the Tay Bridge to Dundee, then around Perth and north up the A9.  Lunchtime happened to correspond with the town of Dunkeld, so we decided to stop off and take a look.  Dunkeld is small and very attractive, with several shops and eateries (including an excellent bakery where we bought bridies and cake) .  It also boasts a part-ruined "Cathedral" - really not much more than a parish church - which has quite a chequered history.  The Battle of Dunkeld was part of the 1689 Jacobite rising, supporting the deposed James VII of Scotland against William of Orange.  As a result of the battle, the Cathedral has lots of holes caused by musket fire which are clearly visible today.

Dunkeld is a lovely place, and is thoroughly recommended for anyone who needs a bit of respite on the long drive north.  I'm sure we'll be back there at some point.

Scotland 2019 15: Kingsbarns and Craighead

The Kingdom of Fife is not the first location which springs to mind when thinking about Scotch Whisky, but in 2014 a new distillery was set up at Kingsbarns in one of the remotest part of the East Neuk.  As well as whisky, the distillery is cashing in on the current interest in gin drinking.  Not only is gin very popular; but, unlike whisky, it doesn't need to be aged before it can be sold.  As a result , it's a way of keeping the distillery in business until the whisky is of sufficient maturity.

Given how young the whisky would have been (a maximum of five years old, with anything less than three not even deemed worthy of the name), we opted for a tour of the gin distillery.  The gin is sold under the brand Darnley's: named after the ill-fated husband of Mary Queen of Scots, who met his future bride at Wemyss Castle - just down the road.

The tour - and tasting - were excellent, with plenty of opportunity to find out about the botanicals used in the distilling process.  The still itself is tiny, meaning that the gin is produced in relatively small batches.  Interestingly, the botanicals are prepared into what look like overgrown tea bags, guaranteeing batch-to-batch consistency as well as making the cleaning job easier.

The weather was still very changeable when we left the distillery, but we decided it was worth going for a walk around Craighead at the tip of the East Neuk peninsula.  A quiet and peaceful place, give or take the risk of being mown down by low-flying golf balls!  The Golf Club was surprisingly welcoming to walkers, in fact, with well-maintained paths from the car park to the beach.  Something to do with it not being owned by the 45th President of the United States, perhaps?

After a passing shower we were treated to a complete rainbow over the beach, with only a few birds for company.  Perfect.

A few more from "Birthday Boy"

Joe came to lunch on his birthday while waiting for Frances to return from San Francisco, where she'd been at a conference.  Christopher failed to bring a bib with him, so - necessity being the mother of invention - we adapted Isla's special Birthday Bandana (see here).  Very smart it looked too.

Joe was fascinated by Isla, and kept giving things to her - in this case a piece of cucumber.  For her part, Isla was incredibly gentle - especially since she's had very little exposure to babies of any age.

The papper, papped.

The next two really should have been stitched into a vertical panorama, as they tell different halves of the same story.  In the north we have Christopher grabbing a sandwich, being watched by a very attentive Joe; in the south we have Isla keeping an eye on the sandwich, just in case anything should fall on the floor.

Isla thought it was great that everything was being done at her level, including the opening of presents and the opportunity to give Christopher a good wash.

Sadly, Joe has now gone back to Bristol, but we see him again at some point between Christmas and New Year.  Can't wait.